On the Telephone

[kybearfuzz]

I have never been a phone chatter. Ever.

When I was a kid, when my sister and brother basically kept our house phone tied up for hours a day, I used marvel at why anyone would enjoy it. And this was back when you were basically tethered to the wall with the cord.

After I got out of the house, it never improved and still holds little fascination for me. I have over 4,000 rollover minutes on my cell phone. The longest I spend on the phone is between a half-hour and an hour, usually talking to my mom or to aceofspace. There have been exceptions when I chatted on the phone with some LJ'ers, but they are few and far between. Even when I'm dating someone, which is a rare thing, I'd rather be with him in person than on the phone with him.

I was chatting online with a guy this weekend and I think I irritated him when I begged off talking with him on the phone. It's not that he's not a great guy and I wouldn't mind hearing his voice, but talking on the phone is just unappealing to me. This is a difficult thing to explain to someone when he doesn't know me personally.

Am I alone in this? Just curious.

Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I would prefer speaking face to face ... and though it surprises some people, I'm quite shy about speaking on the phone ... There are exceptions ... I speak to my folks and to Tim every day, though Tim hates the phone more than I do.

However (and it's rare) ... I can be completely engaged with someone over the phone ... I speak often on the phone with erstexman, designerotter and my non-LJ friends Casey, Steve and Stan ... The friendships are close, so there's no stress for me ... I guess what I'm saying is that I'm completely capable on the phone, but don't prefer it.

I don't text or tweet, so the phone is how I communicate. I really get irritated with folks who can't communicate in person and sit at social events texting, focused on their phones. Completely rude!